NABF Newsletter #7
June 2004

Caribbean Bonsai

Editor's message...

This is really different. We have been doing magazines and bulletins for Latin America for the past 15 years in Spanish -- this is our first one in English. The Caribbean region is small, consisting only of St. Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico, but the enthusiasm in this area is big.

I tried to get information on every Island in the Caribbean concerning bonsai, but I have to say that only St. Croix and Puerto Rico are seriously organized. There are one or two persons doing bonsai in St. Thomas but not enough to make a club yet.

Bonsai in the Caribbean region is mostly influenced by the southeast part of the United States. Our closeness to Florida gives us a chance to fly over and participate in many conventions, and this helps our members to develop their techniques and love for bonsai. So we have to give the Floridians a lot of credit for our work, especially Jim Smith, Jim Moody, Joe Samuels, Mary Madison, Ed Trout, Mary Miller, Carlos Consuegra and many other good friends whose names I cannot remember at the moment.

John Naka and Pedro Morales

We want to express our deepest sympathy to Mr. John Naka's family. We had the opportunity to have John & Alice here some years ago, and Naka gave us so much of himself. His devotion to bonsai and his willingness to help others to understand bonsai are inspiring to our members. When John was here, I had the honor of asking him what name I should use for my bonsai studio. I was considering naming it "Kijo" bonsai because of my two boys Kike and Joel. John, however, recommended "Futago," which means "two brothers or twins." Since then I have called it Futago Bonsai Jyuku by his recommendation. Now that he has passed away, we will always remember his smile, his gestures and his jokes. Thanks John.

Our issue of the NABF Newsletter is small, as is our area, but we compose it with all the enthusiasm that characterizes the Caribbean people. Hope you enjoy it.

Pedro J. Morales